As good as The Stooges‘ version was, this cover by Australia’s Radio Birdman, legends themselves, blows the original out of the water. Rob Younger just had the voice and the howl to make this into a vicious slab of vinyl.
Rock
[Music] Z’ev – Wipe Out (1982)
Z’ev was one of the kings of the early post-Industrial/experimental music scene. Starting off as a normal drummer in the 1960s, he began experimenting with all sorts of found objects, studying their percussive qualities. In a rather bizarre experiment, here he is covering Wipeout by The Surfaris.
[Music] Gwenno – Chwyldro
Gwenno are a band from Wales who just popped onto my radar. File under neo-Krautrock-influenced bliss.
[Music] Johanna Warren – Nūmūn
Johanna Warren is a folk singer from Portland, Oregon, who caught my ear. There’s a very sweet tone to her voice that I’m not used to hearing from other American folkies. This is my first encounter with her work, and I’d say I’m looking forward to hearing more from her.
[Music] The Beatles – Blackbird
Though my favorite Beatles song is George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps (in a bare acoustic setting), this is definitely #2 as I get older.
[Music] Then They Flew – Epic Birthday (Demo)
As I am celebrating a birthday tomorrow, I figured this gift from Bernardo Sampaio and his project ties a good day with wonderful music together very nicely!
[Music] Roger Damawuzan & Les As Du Benin – Wait For Me
Many thanks to Hot Casa Records, who introduced the music of Roger Damawuzan, the ‘James Brown of Lomé‘, to the world. You can definitely see where he gets his inspiration from!
[Music] Scott Walker – The Seventh Seal
How many people do you know who could seamlessly pull off an Ingmar Bergman reference in a song? Scott Walker does so admirably.
[Music] Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells (Live at Montreux 1981)
Tubular Bells, performed by Mike Oldfield and his band, is a masterpiece of progressive rock. Here is it in a live context.
[Music] Rodriguez – Sugar Man
Sixto Rodriguez’s story is a pretty incredible one. A Mexican-American folk singer from Detroit who didn’t sell too many albums, but did manage to have a good tour of Australia, and then fell into obscurity, or so he thought. He ended up outselling Elvis Presley in South Africa, and fans from there hunted him down. The movie Searching For Sugar Man documents his rise, fall, and rise back to popularity.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 